Syrian Forces Launch Ground Operation In Aleppo

Syrian government forces launched a ground operation on September 27 to retake the besieged city of Aleppo, where more than 250,000 civilians are trapped.

Government troops took control of a rebel-held district in central Aleppo, which has been roughly divided between government control in the west and rebel control in the east since 2012.

Syrian state TV said troops captured Farafra, near Aleppo's famous citadel, and that fighting was underway near the historic core of the northern city.

The Syrian Army announced an operation to retake eastern Aleppo on September 22, days after a week-long ceasefire brokered by Russia and the United States broke down. Both sides have accused the other of violating the truce.

Since then, Syrian and Russian warplanes have pounded eastern neighborhoods, killing over 200 people, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitoring group.